Written By: BC Jean and Toby Gad
Director: Jake Nava
Genre: Pop/ Folk Rock
Structure: Narrative
Beyoncé plays the part of the girlfriend in the relationship
between the two characters on screen. There is an obvious trust issue between
the couple as there are suspects of the male cheating on her. Beyoncé tries to
take the point of view of the male and steps in his shoes for a day. She is
expressing her views of the male species and how they miss signals from their
girlfriends when they are upset and their general attitudes towards life and
relationships.
The whole video is in black and white as opposed to colour
which gives the video an archaic feel. The video resembles that of something
from the past as though to connote a re-occurrence of events - maybe he has
cheated before and it is as plain as 'black and white'. The use of colour could
also represent a gender conflict or opposition between two sexes. Black and
white is used to show contrast and here we can see it is being used for a
contrast of views.
We see Beyoncé, a female, in a man’s role. She dresses in a
police uniform made up of a cap, ray ban aviators, a shirt, trousers and black
boots. This uniform displays a strong role in the relationship and as the
police are seen as dominant figures of society. The uniform makes Beyoncé
appear in control and of fair and honest standards, as though we should see her
view as one society agrees with, so the audience understand her views in the
video through this aspect. In the 50's and 60's a job as a police officer was
seen as a male dominating role and women weren't generally seen 'on the job'.
The black and white ties into this idea as though these archaic concepts are
related to this current event all make her male role more obvious to the
audience.
Beyoncé displays male qualities and things that we associate
with the male gender. For example, through the use of a medium two-shot we see Beyoncé
grab, what appears to be a criminal, by the arms and slam him onto a police
car. This gives a very violent aspect to her character and shows men as violent
species. This gives the audience negative attitudes towards the man in the
relationship and takes sides with her. It is also an unusual viewing experience
for the audience as they aren’t as used to seeing a woman as opposed to a man
act in a violent way.
Meanwhile, through the use of a low angle medium shot, we
can see Beyoncé’s male co-worker acting voyeuristic by staring at the lead's
bottom as she bends over. Her bottom is framed left at an extreme close-up
proximity for the audience, so we are forced to look at her bottom two, given
use almost the POV shot of another male onlooker. The man is also dressed in
the same police uniform as the lead which makes the act of voyeurism seem more
unnatural, almost corrupt of the officer to do so. This makes the audience feel
all the more negative towards the man in the relationship.
In the setting of the shooting range we see the artist
helping the co-worker to improve his shooting. What we are seeing a fantasy of Beyoncé’s
imagination depicting her taking the role of her lover. Again, this is
connoting violence among the male species and helps to build up a negative view
of her lover through a medium close up two-shot. The black and grey shooting
range clothing continues the theme of black and white reinforcing the contrast
between the two genders. It also gives Beyoncé a male appearance to help
establish her role as her male lover. In this violent action, we see a moment
of tenderness as Beyoncé seems to lovingly touch her co-workers Adam, again
through the two-shot. This subtly suggest an attempt to cheat on her partner
which resembles herself, making the audience all the more empathetic towards
the artist. As she is in his shoes the audience feel as though they are in
here's.
We also see, through the use of a low angle medium shot, the
man sitting vulnerably at the table eating breakfast. Beyoncé walks in, takes a
bite of food which he had prepared, looks at the man with hopelessness and
walks out of the door. We feel sorry for the man in scene but our feelings are
translated onto Beyoncé as we are seeing her in the alternate role of the male.
This scene expresses her efforts to make things right between them and the
hopelessness that is mutually felt in the relationship.
Another scene of voyeurism is show through the use of a long
shot jump cut to a medium close-up where Beyoncé is in, what feels like a male
changing room, as she undresses, (a tradition act related to the police force's
culture). She is in a black bra, again continuing the colour scheme, and she
looks over her left shoulder and smiles at someone outside of the camera. We,
the audience, believe it to be the police co-worker, further suggesting the
idea of cheating on the other partner. We the audience are watching her undress
as is the potential male in the changing room.
A master shot shows the lead with her police co-workers,
including the male friend, around a restaurant table. The warm lighting suggests
an environment she feels comfortable in, the mise-en-scene provides a 'diner'
environment with sugar, salt and pepper pots in the middle of the table and the
fact they are seated in the window, typical of a restaurant. The man in the
relationship texts her and she ignores him which directly corporates with the lyrics
of the song. For example, "Tell everyone it's broken, so they think that I
was sleeping alone." This seems to be a repeating convention of mainstream
music videos, to match the action to the lyrics. Again, this builds up a
negative view of the man. Use of medium close-ups are used to show the lead and
the man to reveal their emotions to the audience.
Finally, a clear image is presented to the audience where Beyoncé
is dancing sexually with her male co-worker, the audience see this through a
long POV shot of the male/Beyoncé. A medium close-up is used to reveal her
shock when she realises he is watching and she passes her drink to the
co-worker and walks to her boyfriend. A long two-shot shows her trying to
explain to him but he has none of it. The audience imagine the roles reversed
and emptier is felt towards Beyoncé as we see her upset net and frustration
with him. The colour black again is prominent in the scene as Beyoncé wears a
black dress, this connotes the evilness of her actions against her lover. Black
is also associated with funerals so the black dress could represent the death
of their relationship, and the end of an era.
A break down section is included in the video where the
music is faded revealing diegetic sound of the character's conversation. A long
two-shot is used while they converse again the colour black is evident in their
costuming, Beyoncé wearing the same outfit previously. A clever twist is used
in the dialogue when Beyoncé says, "it's not like I'm sleeping with the
guy." they both say in unison, "what?" there is a long pause,
and the male says, "I said, its not like I'm sleeping with the girl."
This changes him from being vulnerable in the situation to being the
antagonist. Realisation hits the audience and confirms the alternate twist of
views through the video. A medium close-up reveals a tear from the artist 's
eyes and the audience can't help but understand her sadness. We understand the
video is a depiction of her imagination of the frustration of her lover's ways.
In the introduction, there was a long shot of Beyoncé
leaving her home, entering her work vehicle with the male co-worker in the car
and dressed her police outfit. After the break down section the cinematography
is completely copied but with the male in his uniform. When he gets into the
car there is a female police officer in the driver’s seat. We now understand
and can see the bigger picture. Beyoncé is sad over suspicions her boyfriend is
cheating on her with a woman from work. The audience are left feeling touched
and emotional.
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